Malaysia committed to boosting economic ties with Kenya - Mustapa

Malaysia is committed to boosting economic ties with Kenya and narrowing the large bilateral trade gap, said Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

He said Nairobi and Kenya were currently experiencing a construction boom and there was strong interests to source building materials from Malaysia.

"In view of this, Malaysia External Trade Development Corp, which has an office in Nairobi, will bring a number of Malaysian companies there to promote Malaysian products.

"The Kenya Commercial Bank Group, on the converse, plans to bring a delegation of Kenyan investors and traders here in the first half of next year," he said.

Mustapa said this in a statement here today in conjunction with the Ministry of International Trade and Industry's roundtable session with 15 representatives from the Kenyan business community yesterday.

He said Malaysia and Kenya enjoyed close bilateral ties.

Total trade increased to US$742 million in 2014 from US$283 million in 2013, he said.

Mustapa said Malaysia's exports to Kenya of US$737 million far exceeded imports from the country which stood at only US$5.5 million.

"This gap needs to be narrowed. It presents a big challenge because Kenya does not produce the products which have a high demand in Malaysia, such as electrical and electronics products," he said.

He said as a trading nation and an open economy, Malaysia will continue to diversify its business relations with the African continent.

Kenya has a population of 46 million with income per capita of US$3,100 and the country has recorded average annual economic growth of around 6 per cent over the past five years.